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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24555892">Interlude: Family Ties</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragongoddess13/pseuds/Dragongoddess13'>Dragongoddess13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ghost Whisperer AU [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Game of Thrones (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Ghost Whisperer AU, POV Outsider, stannis' pov, this is it, we've reached the middle game</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:02:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,421</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24555892</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragongoddess13/pseuds/Dragongoddess13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Six months after the last story: Stannis comes to the clinic to go through the books and by chance, meets Gendry. <br/>Why is it always the job of the middle child to clean up everyone's messes?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arya Stark/Gendry Waters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ghost Whisperer AU [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>123</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Interlude: Family Ties</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is it guys, we've reached the middle game. We've crossed the bridge and it won't be long now.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Interlude: Family Ties</span>
</p><p>
  <span>xXx</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stannis Baratheon is a stern man. He’s got very little time for the bullshit his older brother lets permeate the air around him. There’s too much to do. With a family name like Baratheon, there is always too much to do. When his father came to him after he’d graduated university and asked him to come up with a way to clean up their family’s reputation, Stannis got right to work. He’d had ideas to do just that for years, despite the difficulty of changing thousands of years of entrenched public opinion. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In ancient times the Baratheons were known for being fat lazy kings, taking more than their fair share of taxes to throw lavish parties and eat more than they needed. The family almost went extinct back in those days, pissing off one too many powerful families and once marrying a wolf, or Lion rather, in sheep's clothing (and wasn’t it just wonderful that his eldest brother felt the need to repeat history). The family just barely survived because the current king at the time, killed by his own queen, had fathered more bastards than anyone could count. Thankfully, one of those bastards was ambitious enough to claim his father’s name and all that went with it, effectively restarting the family line anew. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As history progressed, his family repeatedly showed itself to be incapable of sustaining a good reputation. From greed, to laziness, to the continued idea that they were better than everyone else thanks to monetary wealth, The Baratheons were never one for learning from past mistakes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, in modern times, Stannis was determined to break the habit. Somewhere in the eighteen hundreds the Baratheons got into the oil business. At the turn of the century they branched out into other avenues, effectively kicking off the Baratheon empire throughout Westeros and beyond.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> His father was a nice man, but he wasn’t particularly intelligent. Thankfully he had friends who were not so apt to take advantage of him. They helped keep the business he inherited going until one of his sons came of age to take over. Not for the first time, Stannis thinks about how much better off his family might be if he had been born first. Had he been the first born, he would be the heir to the empire, while Robert, the fat lazy slob living up to the name of the ancestor he was named after, would be here instead, standing on the street outside one of many clinics run by the foundation Stannis created in the hopes of cleaning up the family name, as he had been tasked to do. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had worked, by the way, for a while. But it seemed every time they took a step forward, Robert was there to pull them back. Like now, for example. Robert, now fully entrenched in divorce proceedings, had decided to hide a few assets from his soon to be ex wife. He had chosen to do this, as he chose to do most things while fully sloshed, effectively losing track of what he had done and forcing someone else, namely Stannis, to clean up his mess. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is why, instead of being on a train to his alma mater to his visit the daughter he missed dearly, he was standing on the corner of Piedmont and Spearhead in downtown King’s Landing, shivering against the bitter February wind, looking forward to a day of physically going through financial records and the like in search of the missing assets. And to add insult to injury, if he didn’t find the assets before Cersei’s lawyers did, his dear brother was looking at criminal charges. He was half tempted to let the asshole get caught, let him finally reap what he sowed, but Robert also couldn’t remember what the assets were, and Stannis wasn’t willing to let anything go to Cersei without first knowing what he was losing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a heavy sigh, Stannis strode through the front door, briefcase in one hand, hand in the pocket of his thick winter peacoat. The receptionist, a young woman named Jane who went to school with his daughter and was currently working her way through law school, with an emphasis on medical law, smiles at him as he enters. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning, Mr. Baratheon.” she greets. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good Morning Jane. How’s school going?” he asks amicably. He’s never been one for small talk, but he makes due. Jane is an intelligent young woman and he hopes to keep her happy enough that she will consider an offer to work for the foundation once she’s graduated and passed the bar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s going well, only a few more months until the final semester ends.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Congratulations, I’m sure you’ll do well.” he tells her as his attention is drawn to the pair that walks out of the back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya Stark was a win he had been trying to score for years. As one of the top rated trauma surgeons in the country, she would have been a boon to his foundation. But she was determined to work for the public sector and he respected that. As much as this foundation was his way of fixing everything wrong with his family and one upping his brother with every success, he did in fact believe in the work they were doing. Taking care of the people is not something his family had ever been known for and it irked him the way his ancestors had used and abused the public for gain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stannis had tried for years to convince Arya to come work for him, so when she called him a few months earlier hoping to get back into the field slowly, he had jumped at the chance to help her with that. Dr. Cleaver had assured him that she was doing well and had become quite the asset in the six months she had been working there.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man that follows her out into the reception area stops his heart cold, however. He’s tall, very tall, with thick black hair and eyes so blue they could only be what gossip columnists had dubbed Baratheon Blue. Strong jawed, sharp cheekbones and well built, this man was a Baratheon through and through. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fucking Robert.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Stannis thought to himself as Arya noticed him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uncle Stannis, Mycah mentioned you were joining us today.” she greets him, and he accepts the hug happily enough. When she pulls away, he looks over her shoulder at the man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you are?” he asks, not impolitely, but the sparkle in the man’s eyes as he spoke to Arya is gone now nonetheless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is Gendry.” Arya introduces them. “He’s a friend of mine.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stannis holds out his hand and Gendry accepts it. His jaw is clenched slightly, like it’s taking all of his willpower not to turn and run from the prospect of socializing. He would have found it amusing how much this Gendry reminded him of himself in that aspect, if not for the lingering specter of yet another of his brother’s indiscretions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pleasure to meet you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Likewise.” Gendry replies as they release their hold. Gendry then turns to Arya, that sparkle of affection no one else seemed to deserve from him, returning. “I will call you if I make any progress.” he says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya looks tense for a moment. “Just don’t hurt yourself okay. It’s just a stupid door, not your sworn enemy. Don’t make me have to run home and stitch you back together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gendry chuckles. “No promises.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sighs exasperated as he turns and walks out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stannis watches him go, running numbers and ideas through his head. There isn’t enough data for a decision yet, he’d have to look into it more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Gendry is gone, he turns to Arya, who has now turned her attention to looking through the day's patient roster. “I will most likely be here all day,” he begins, drawing her attention. “What do you say to lunch this afternoon, we can catch up.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya smiles. “That sounds great.” she agrees and with that they go their separate ways for the morning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>xXx</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I hear your settling in well at the clinic.” Stannis says as he hands his menu back to the waitress. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am, I like it alot. It’s the work I enjoy doing, but it's much more sedate.” Arya replies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Excellent. I’m glad you're enjoying your work again, a talent like yours is not something to be squandered.” he tells her. She smiles softly, fiddling with her place setting. “You know I had dinner with your parents a few weeks ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh really? How are they?” she asks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re well, missing their children of course. But, I must say, I’m curious. They never mentioned you seeing anyone.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya looks confused for a moment before recognition dawns on her. “Oh, Gendry? No, we’re just friends.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? Just friends with a man you gave a key to your home?” he questions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya sighs. “He’s helping me fix the place up. That’s how we became friends actually. We’re almost done, but there’s this old door in the basement that’s been sealed for decades and he’s obsessed with getting it open. Everything we’ve tried so far hasn’t worked, including an ax.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see. He’s stubborn then.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya smiles. “Like a bull.” she replies. “That’s what everyone at work calls him anyway. The Bull.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is his full name by the way?” Stannis asks as casually as he can manage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Waters, Gendry Waters.” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just as he suspected.  </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about family? Is he from around here?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya hesitates. “Gendry doesn’t really talk about his family. He grew up in foster care after his mum died. That’s pretty much all he’ll say.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And his father?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never met him. Never had any desire to look for him either.” She takes a drink from her water glass. “Why are you so curious about him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Honestly, he looks very familiar.” it was only half a lie really. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arya stares back at him, her eyes searching his face. She doesn’t seem to find what she’s looking for and so she lets the matter drop, steering the conversation to his daughter Shireen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they eat their lunch, Stannis allows his mind to wander. Waters was a name he knew all too well, one he had hoped would be finished with his family. Apparently he was wrong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Robert Baratheon had always been a pig. Stannis blamed their father for not being more strict with his eldest son, but he wasn’t entirely sure that would have worked anyway. Some people were just born to be a problem. Robert’s only redeeming quality growing up was his best friend, Eddard “Ned” Stark. Unfortunately for Ned, his little sister was quite the beauty and just Robert’s type. Robert proclaimed his love for Lyanna loudly and often, usually just before going off with another girl or downing another in a long line of drinks. Lyanna, however, was not impressed by him in the slightest and despite his best efforts to win her over, he eventually lost out to a Targaryen. Rhaegar to be exact. Stannis didn’t particularly like Rhaegar, but he had more class and business sense than Robert and he could see why Lyanna would choose someone like him over Robert. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Supposedly heartbroken, Robert moped his way through King’s Landing and right into the path of Rose Eveline Waters. Rosey, he had called her. The daughter of Elias Wells, she had taken her mother’s maiden name to avoid any attachment to her father’s business. Elias Wells was the head of major criminal enterprise passed down through the Wells family for three generations. They had grown so large they were practically untouchable. Rose, he remembered, wanted nothing to do with it, and he thinks a part of her hoped Robert, with all his flowery declarations and charm would take her away from her family, give her the chance to live a normal life without fear of police raids or retaliation from her father’s “business partners”. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Robert of course proved himself to be exactly what Elias had accused him of being and after he got bored with Rose, he left, cutting off contact and acting as though he had never met her before. Stannis had, admittedly, not looked in on her after that, glad his brother was putting distance between himself and organized crime, but apparently he had not gone far or fast enough. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had heard through the grapevine that Rose had died of cancer nearly a decade after Robert left, but he hadn’t heard anything of her leaving a child behind. And for that matter, if Elias Wells had a grandson after having nothing but daughters and eventually granddaughters, one would think word would have spread of a more desirable heir to the Wells crime family. Additionally, why would Gendry have grown up in foster care if he did in fact have family. He could understand no one getting a hold of Robert especially if his name wasn’t on the birth certificate, but Wells and his family were still an option. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was all a conundrum, one that Stannis would have to look into. As much as he hated to consider it, Gendry could be quite useful to him. The board of directors was fully aware of the kind of man Robert was, thus a clause had been written into the company bylaws. Should any of Robert’s indiscretions cause legal trouble for the company, he could be ousted from the position and replaced by the next in line, Stannis himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stannis was of the opinion that Robert’s divorce should be enough to give him the boot, but the board didn’t see it that way. Cersei had her own indiscretions, thus nullifying Robert’s in the court of law. That being said, if a bastard son appeared, older than his children through marriage, it would throw the line of succession in the company bylaws off and create the kind of legal crisis the board needed to oust Robert once and for all. That of course would leave Stannis to take over, subsequently getting the company back on track as it should have been all along. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The shadiness of it all left him a bit queasy. He didn’t really know Gendry and Arya seemed quite fond of him, so using the man to his advantage would probably leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. He would have to put in serious consideration before he tried to make a move. Weigh the benefits with the risks of alienating lifelong and future allies. </span>
</p>
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